of you coming in here like this and talking to me man to man. I know I’m not the easiest guy to deal with. I have forty fucking people on this team. You’re right, I cast you off, and I should have been paying more attention to you.”
“I’m right?” I choke out. I’m not used to seeing this kind of humility from Coach Johnson.
“Yes. And that’s why I wanted to call you. I wanted to tell you that you’re starting today.”
My skin tingles. “What?”
“Yeah. I thought about everything after that fight. I don’t think you were angry at Teague. You were angry at me, and taking it out on him. And today, at two p.m. when we play Saint Simeon today. Their all-star right fielder is a beast, but the new scouting report says that he can’t handle a slider. So you’ve got the start if you want it. But if you don’t want to play…”
I can feel my heart pounding at the thought of finally getting in on some action. I swallow. “Dammit, Coach J,” I say. “Why didn’t you say so?”
When I get back to the suite and tell Maya the news, she screeches. “Yes, yes, yes! Baby, I’m so excited.”
“Wait, I need to do something,” she says. “Stay here.”
I watch as she backs up into the lounge, then takes a running start, runs and jumps into my arms and I catch her.
“I just had to koala bear you,” she says, wrapping her legs around me. I kiss her deeply. “So, are you going back to the fieldhouse then?”
I check my watch. “I have to head over there by noon, but first we’re going to breakfast with some friends.”
“Which friends?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Grant, you know I don’t like surprises.”
“You’re going to like this one, I guarantee it.”
38
Maya
Grant and I arrive at Green Eggs diner, walking in hand in hand.
“So what’s this surp—”
My jaw literally drops at what I see, and a knot catches in my throat. All five of my brothers—plus my mom and dad—are sitting in the corner circular booth of the diner.
I’m utterly speechless.
Grant’s hand finds the small of my back, and he whispers to me as he leads me to them. “Paul called me—I think he wanted to kill me at first—but hey, at least I got his number out of it. They were going to try and meet you in Chicago, but I told them we were coming down here for the Alpha Island party today. So, they said they’d meet you here.”
“Well, hey there, sis,” Tom says, getting up to hug me first.
I wipe the tears off my cheeks. “You flew in from freaking England just to see me? You didn’t have to.”
He wraps me up in a big hug. “Yes, I did have to. I missed you. We all did. We want you to know that we’ll always be there for you. You’ve always been the glue girl of this family, holding us together, but we can do it for you too.” He leans in and whispers. “And we also wanted to check out this Grant guy. If you’re getting serious, he’s going to have to pass the brother approval test.”
I hug all of my brothers one by one and say similar hellos to them. Finally, I get to my parents.
My mom and dad wrap me up in one hug like they used to when I was little.
And when they were in love.
“You’re not mad, about me dropping out? And about the vid—”
“We shall never speak of the other thing,” my dad says. “You’re my daughter and we love you and that’s all that matters.”
“Randy, it’s just sex,” my mom chimes in. “And it was with her boyfriend, for goodness sake. She was expressing her sexuality and—”
I cut in. “I actually agree with dad on this one. Let’s not talk about it.”
“Well, my lawyer friends did get it taken down everywhere we could find it,” Dave interjects.
My parents pull back from the hug, and my dad holds my shoulder. My dad smiles. “If you’re happier now than at Greene, that’s great, and I’m happy for you. I shouldn’t have tried to steer you or tell you what you wanted to do. Only you can know for certain what’s in your gut. I wish I made more money so I could pay for your school. But the reality is, business has been down. I’m sorry. And I just want you to know that no matter what, I’ll always be so proud of my daughter.”
“And